I recently posted a question about a new pleco, and got some good help in identifying him as a bristlenose, (thanx, guys) so I'm hoping for someone with angelfish knowledge to help me with this one. I bought 2 dime size silver angels 6 months ago; they are doing well and may be a male & female. One is the common silver with 3 black stripes. The other, however, has an extra stripe, and red eyes. He (I think it may be male because the head is developing a more raised forhead) is also a bit different in that his fins are slightly longer, and his growth rate is a bit slower. Also, the body shape is slightly less rounded, more oval. I would describe it as more delicate looking. The extra stripe gives him a zebra like appearance-equal amounts of black &silver. Very lovely, but is this a different variety? Will he mate with the other,(assuming its a female?) I'm sorry I don't have a photo for you, but my Ipad is the first model;no camera!

The new issue of Amazonas has pics of some really weird-looking wild-type (silver) angels.

Most of the angels in the hobby are the same species, P. Scalare, but the ones from Peru are different looking and have nice red eyes. Tank-bred Altum angels are starting to be available, they are mostly distinguished by large size, high price, and tendency to die.

There are 4 or more species of angels in the wild and all probably do interbreed.

Angels do seems to be able to fade or darken some stripes at will. So a difference could be a dominance thing.

hmmmmmmmm....trying to remember some..all of the angels are pterophyllum....then there are the scalare with a few varients such as the Peruvian emc posted..
then there is P. Dumerelli...P. Leopoldi and then the amazing P. Altum...
the peruvian altum is not a true altum..just a varient of the scalare.but the altum is much sought after and can be pretty pricey...a bit harder to keep and fairly difficult to spawn and keep fry alive...they need a really deep tank of at least 24" as they can reach 20" in height...
angels have been the hobby for a long time , discovered in the 1880's......
usually a silver with the extra stripe is called a zebra...and some silvers with broken stripes are referred to as leopards...almost all of the color and pattern variations of angels you see are P. Scalare....longer fins usually are called veils ; and the shorter fins are called Delta.....but there are some that are sometimes called Saber fin....standard delta type tail with longer dorsal and anal fins.....
keep angels in deep tanks..the deeper the better so they can develop their fins..

first of all, if you really do have one female and one male, just watch to see if they pair up. It'll be pretty obvious, they'll take over a space in the tank and be very territorial about it. One thing though, it sounds like your tank is really overstocked. Two angels alone need at least 20 gallons...

Emc: The angel in the background of the photo is an identical match to mine, and the red eyes comment, I' m leaning in that direction. Do not want it to be Mr. Altum, with his tendancy to die, and all.
iohachata: you also mention peruvians. Since you say the altums are less common, and more pricey, its unlikely I accidentally picked one up, in a tank of commoners- not impossible (stranger things have happened!) but less likely, so maybe I'm safe. Looks like you & I share an Angel obsession. To be honest, the biggest reason for the tank, is to have angels. The other fish are great, but if somebody didn't get along with the angels, it wouldn't be the angels to go. The rest of the fish are like complementary ornamentation. (I don't tell them that, though.
grace: guilty as charged!
oldsalt: angelaides sounds UGLY. No antibiotic that is effective, yet?
Thanx for the input, all, I think I'll call him Peruvian until proven otherwise. Besides, who around here will even know the difference?

If you go to petco and have one of their cards, you can get a 20 gallon Aqueon tank with everything you need for it (i.e. a filter, adjustable heater which is great for angels because they like higher water temperature, some food, a net, all sorts of good things) for about $60.00. I would suggest that you get one of those, take some water out of your old tank plus some new water, and stick your angelfish in. They will be much happier this way.

been to petco, got the card, its not the money, and I kinda knew I was overstocking, but just couldn't stop myself. (ever had one of those days?) But I do have some monster filtration, I check my tank parameters like an OCD commercial for some new, more expensive drug, and actually enjoy water changes. The angels are fairly small, yet, but I will keep an eye on the situation. I had a breeder pair in this same tank for years, and they raised fry every few months, like clockwork. Not ideal, but it'll do, for now, anyway. Also, I suspect that when I do decide to get another tank, I'll be going BIG, not another 20. Then, I'll just use the current 20g. for a hospital tank...not that I've given it any thought, or anything!

lol, I absolutely have those days. When that happens, my fiancÚ is normally the one to talk me out of it. I don't know how many fish I would have now if he wasn't there to stop me... all things aside though, the reason that they're still pretty small might be because they don't have enough room